Sugar reduction in drinks: 2015 to 2024
1 Introduction
This report provides information on trends in the purchasing of soft drinks, juices and milk-based drinks that are taken into the home for consumption. It examines changes in purchasing behaviour between the baseline periods in 2015 (soft drinks) and 2017 (juices and milk-based drinks) and 2024. It presents changes in overall sales, sugar content (for both total sugar purchased and average sugar content per 100ml) and average calories per single serving. Data for soft drinks are also presented by social grade (based on the occupation of the main wage earner of the household) and life stage of the household (based on the age profile of different members of the household).
Diets high in sugar increase the risk of dental decay and weight gain. Being overweight or living with obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. The latest data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that sugar intakes in children remain around double the maximum dietary recommendation and soft drinks provide 13% of sugar intake in those aged 11 to 18 years.
This report is an update of analysis in the previous sugar reduction programme report. The previous report looked at changes in the sugar content of food, as part of the voluntary sugar reduction programme, whereas this report focuses solely on drinks.
The voluntary sugar reduction programme was launched in 2016. It set an ambition for all sectors of the food industry to voluntarily reduce sugar by 20% by 2020 in the food categories that contribute most to the dietary intakes of children aged up to 18 years.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has been running alongside the sugar reduction programme. It was announced in the Budget in March 2016 and came into law in April 2018. The SDIL applies to manufacturers and importers of beverages containing added sugar and aims to encourage manufacturers and retailers to reduce the sugar content in their drink products.
The SDIL includes 2 rates of tax, depending on the sugar content:
- the ‘standard rate’ (£1.94 per 10 litres) applies to drinks with total sugar content between 5g and 7.9g per 100ml
- the ‘higher rate’ (£2.59 per 10 litres) applies to drinks with total sugar content of 8g or more per 100ml
There is currently no tax applied to drinks with sugar content of less than 5g per 100ml. However, the analysis in this report includes drinks with a sugar content of less than 5g per 100ml. It is important to include them to assess any reformulation of products, and overall changes in consumer behaviour.
In the 2024 Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced that SDIL would be uprated to bring it in line with inflation, which would apply from 1st April 2025 (the rates above take account of the first of these increases). It was also announced that certain aspects of the SDIL would be reviewed to ensure it remains effective. A consultation was published in April 2025 setting out proposed changes to reduce the minimum sugar content at which SDIL applies from 5g to 4g total sugar per 100ml; and to remove the exemption for milk-based and milk substitute drinks.
In May 2018, unsweetened juice (sweetened juice already being part of the SDIL) and sweetened milk-based drinks (for example milkshakes, and flavoured milk alternatives) were incorporated into the voluntary sugar reduction programme, having been excluded from the SDIL. The sugar reduction guidelines for industry: juice and milk-based drinks set out the ambition for all sectors of industry to reduce sugar by 5% in unsweetened juice-based drinks and 20% in milk-based drinks by 2021.
In January 2019, fermented (yogurt) drinks were also added to the programme, with a sugar reduction ambition of 20% by 2021 published in the sugar reduction guidelines for industry: fermented (yogurt) drinks. Calorie (kcal) guidelines for products likely to be consumed in a single occasion were also set for some drinks categories included in the voluntary sugar reduction programme.
Please note that from now on, where the report refers to “juices”, this means unsweetened juices, as sweetened juices are already covered by the SDIL.
Metrics used to measure progress
The SDIL analysis uses 2 main metrics to measure progress against the sugar reduction ambitions: sales weighted average (SWA) for sugar content (g per 100ml) and SWA for calories per serving for products sold as a single serving. The juices and milk-based drinks analysis uses 4 main metrics: SWA for sugar content (g per 100ml) simple average (SA) for sugar content (g per 100ml), SWA calories per serving and the percentage of products meeting the guidelines for maximum calories for a single serving.
To calculate the sales weighted average, the average (mean) sugar content of each drink product is weighted by its total sales volume in litres to give more influence to products with higher sales. Therefore, changes to the sugar content of products with higher sales will have a greater impact on the SWA than changes for products with fewer sales. This is the same for SWA for calories per serving.
To calculate the simple average, products are not weighted according to volume sales, so this measures the average (mean) sugar content of products regardless of how much is sold.
Some juice and milk-based drinks categories have guidelines for the maximum number of calories per single serving. The metric used in this report looks at the percentage of products within each category where the number of calories is below the maximum guideline (therefore meeting the guidelines). The higher the number the better.
See the Appendix for more information about these metrics.
Juice and milk-based drink categories
A number of different categories are used in the analysis of juices and milk-based drinks. The table below presents these and the different types of products found in each category.
| Category | Types of products |
|---|---|
| Pre-packed mono juices | 100% apple juice, 100% orange juice |
| Pre-packed blended juices | Mixed 100% juices, juices blended with dairy where the greater percentage is juice, juice with water combinations drinks (minimum 20% juice), nut and plant sap water |
| Pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks | Kefirs, pre and probiotics, lassis, plant stanols and sterols |
| Coffee and tea powders, syrups and pods (as consumed) | As described, though analysis is based on the product as made up according to manufacturer’s instructions (for example, mixed with water or milk), not how it is purchased (just the powder or syrup by itself) |
| Hot chocolate and malt powders, syrups and pods (as consumed) | As described, though analysis is based on the product as made up according to manufacturer’s instructions (for example, mixed with water or milk), not how it is purchased (just the powder or syrup by itself) |
| Milkshake powders syrups and pods (as consumed) | As described, though analysis is based on the product as made up according to manufacturer’s instructions (for example, mixed with water or milk), not how it is purchased (just the powder or syrup by itself) |
| Pre-packed milk-based drinks | Milkshakes, flavoured milks, coffees, smoothies with larger percentage dairy |
| Pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks | Drinks in scope made with milk substitutes, for example almond milk |
2 Key findings
Drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy
Between 2015 and 2024 there was an increase of 13.5% in the volume sales of drinks covered by the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL). Despite this increase in volume sales there was a decrease of 39.8% in the total sugar sold from these drinks. This was due to an increase in sales of drinks with lower sugar content and decrease in sales of drinks with higher sugar content.
This shift in sales resulted in a reduction of 47.4% in the sales weighted average (SWA) sugar content (g per 100ml) of drinks purchased and a reduction of 42.2% in the SWA calories per portion.
There was an increase in the proportion of volume sales which came from drinks that incurred no levy from 67% in 2015 to 91% in 2024.
There was a reduction in the SWA sugar content (g per 100ml) of drinks purchased across all the social grades. This ranged from a reduction of 51.8% in group AB (higher and intermediate, administrative and professional occupations) to 45% in group E (state benefits, casual and lowest grade workers).
There was a reduction in the SWA sugar content (g per 100ml) of drinks purchased in all life stage groups. This ranged from 39.6% in the “pre-family” group to 54.3% in the “older family” group.
Juices and milk-based drinks
Compared with products subject to the SDIL, the volumes sold in the juices and milk-based drinks categories were relatively small. For example, pre-packed mono juices, the largest of these categories by volume sold, is equivalent to around 13% of the total volume of drinks sold subject to the SDIL.
The change in volume sales and sugar content (in terms of both total sugar purchased and average sugar content per 100ml) of juices and milk-based drinks presents a mixed picture.
Between 2017 and 2024 there was a reduction in the volume sales of pre-packed mono juices (down 5.2%) and pre-packed blended juices (down 6.8%) as well as a reduction in the amount of sugar sold from these drinks (down 6.9% and 7.8% respectively). There was little change in the simple average (SA) sugar content (g per 100ml) of mono juices and pre-packed blended juices.
In the same time period, there were increases in the volume sales of pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks (up 24.3%), pre-packed milk-based drinks (up 53.2%) and pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks (up 18.7%). The amount of sugar sold from the first 2 categories also increased but by a smaller percentage (by 12.5% and 30.3% respectively), though reduced in the last category (down 4.7%). As a result there was a reduction in the sales weighted avergae (SWA) sugar content (g per 100ml) of pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks (down 15.2%), pre-packed milk-based drinks (down 32.4%) and pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks (down 28%).
For those products sold in single servings between 2017 and 2024, pre-packed milk-based drinks and pre-packed blended juices both showed an increase in the percentage of products at or below the maximum calorie guideline. 3 categories (pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks, pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks and pre-packed mono-juices) showed a decrease. However, for all categories, at least 85% of drinks sold in servings were below the maximum calorie guidelines.
3 Context
Figure 3.1 to Figure 3.3 show how sales have changed between the baseline year and 2024. For drinks covered by the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) the baseline year is 2015. For juices and milk-based drinks the baseline year is 2017. The order of the legend is the same as the order of the bars for all bar charts in this report.
For drinks covered by the SDIL there was an increase of over 500 million litres sold (523 million litres) which equates to a 13.5% increase in volume sales. In comparison, volume sales were much lower for juices and milk-based drinks, although pre-packed milk-based drinks, pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks and pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks saw increases of 53.2%, 24.3% and 18.7% respectively. There were reductions in volumes sales for both pre-packed mono juices (down 5.2%) and pre-packed blended juices (down 6.8%).
Figure 3.1 to 3.3: Volume sales of soft drinks and juices and milk-based drinks in the baseline year and 2024
There was a reduction in the amount of sugar sold by drinks covered by the SDIL of approximately 57,000 tonnes which equates to a 39.8% decrease (see Figure 3.4 to Figure 3.6).
Pre-packed mono juices, pre-packed blended juices and pre-packed flavoured milk substitute drinks all showed a reduction in the amount of sugar sold (by 6.9%, 7.8% and 4.7% respectively). However, pre-packed fermented (yogurt) drinks and pre-packed milk-based drinks showed increases in the amount of sugar sold (up 12.5% and up 30.3% respectively). Please note that sales information for the 3 categories containing powders, syrups and pods are not included here as they are sold on a different basis (for example in kg for powders and servings for pods) and need to be prepared before they are consumed.
Figure 3.4 to 3.6: Sugar sales of soft drinks and juices and milk-based drinks in the baseline year and 2024
4 Drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy
As shown in Figure 3.1, there was an increase in the total volume sold of drinks subject to the SDIL between 2015 and 2024. Figure 4.1 shows that this increase was driven solely by drinks that contained less than 5g of sugar per 100ml and thus incurred no levy.
Figure 4.1: Volume sales of soft drinks in 2015 and 2024
Figure 4.2 shows that around two-thirds (67%) of volume sales in 2015 were for drinks containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml, 7.5% were for drinks containing between 5g and 8g of sugar per 100ml and 25.6% for drinks containing more than 8g of sugar per 100ml. In 2024, the percentage of volume sales in the group containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml had increased to 90.5% with sales in the group between 5g and 8g of sugar per 100ml falling to 0.7% and the group containing over 8g of sugar per 100ml falling to 8.8% of sales.
Figure 4.2: Proportion of drink sales subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy
The combined effect of the increase in volume sales, decrease in sugar sales and change in distribution of products available from those higher in sugar to those lower in sugar is a decrease in the average sugar content of drinks covered by the SDIL. Specifically the sales weighted average (SWA) sugar content fell from 3.7g per 100ml in 2015 to 1.9g per 100ml in 2024 which is a reduction of nearly 50% (reduction of 47.4% in SWA sugar content (g per 100ml)) and a decrease of more than 40% in the average calorie content of products covered by the SDIL sold in a single serving (reduction of 42.2% in the SWA of calories per single serving) as seen in Figure 4.3 and Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.3 to 4.4: Sales weighted average total sugar (g per 100ml) and calories (kcal per serving) of drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy
Figure 4.5 shows the distribution of the sugar content of drinks products available. In 2015 there were 2 distinct peaks – the first close to zero and the other between 10g and 11g of sugar per 100ml. The distribution for 2024 shows a clear move to the left. There are again 2 distinct peaks – the first still close to zero and the other just below 5g of sugar per 100ml. This highlights the shift in the market between 2015 and 2024 to drinks containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml which are exempt from the SDIL.
Figure 4.5: Number of drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy